Why I'm Boycotting Chick-Fil-A

Many on the religious right have complained about how "liberals" are unjustly "punishing" a "good Christian" company for believing in biblical principles, particularly as related to marriage.

As anyone who reads my blog often will know, I am a gay man. I've been in a committed, loving relationship with another man for 9 years. As a gay man, the "biblical marriage" issue is more than just an abstract political question, as it is for most people. For me, this is a serious issue. It's far more than the extra $5000 in federal taxes we had to pay for my health insurance provided by my partner. It's about my personal dignity as a person, and our ability to live our life together with legal protections.

It amazes me to hear "Christians" complain about this boycott. This is no different than the "One Million Moms" group boycotting Starbucks when the company came out in favor of keeping the Washington state gay marriage law (opposing the ballot initiative that would overturn the law). The fact is, these politically motivated boycotts only serve to boost business from the opposing side. I usually don't drink coffee, but I bought a Starbucks caramel malchiado the day I heard of the OMM boycott. The same is true for Chick-Fil-A.

I only went to Chick-Fil-A twice when I lived in Atlanta. I was a little surprised to find them closed one Sunday, so I looked them up online. I found that their "closed sundays" policy is motivated by the owner's strong Christian convictions. Being a respectful Atheist, I thought: Good for you! I then moved on with my business. I later heard stories in Atlanta of Chick-Fil-A harassing and firing "homosexuals" who were "discovered". I also heard of them firing single women who were pregnant out of wedlock. I called their corporate office and spoke with their PR guy. When asked about firing gay people, he told me there are no laws against that in the state of Georgia. When I pointed out the gender discrimination of firing pregnant women, he abruptly ended the conversation and hung up. Regardless of your "convictions", firing people for being gay or pregnant is absolutely unacceptable in my book.

That's why I've had a boycott against Chick-Fil-A since 2006. It has nothing to do with the owner's "religious convictions", or discriminating against "Christian values". It has everything to do with their discriminatory employment practices.

I also have a standing boycott of Walmart over their employment practices and the fact that they push manufacturers to move manufacturing jobs oversees. It also has to do with the devastation left behind in local retail when the company moves into an area. My mother also works for Walmart, and there's a horrible incident that demonstrates the evil of that company. Again, it has nothing to do with the Walton's religious views.

For those of you who believe that I choose to be this way, consider this: I was born to a conservative religious family in a very religious part of the country. I prayed and fasted for years, begging god to relieve me of the burden of the "unholy urges". The church told me that if god didn't change me, this was my burden in life. They told me celibacy was my only option. When I was 18, they wanted to put me into an electro-shock therapy program (evergreen international), but I refused. I tried for years to change. My self loathing led me to very bad places. The hurt didn't heal until I accepted that I was born this way. It took years for me to re-tune my life, but I am happy now. I would probably be dead if I hadn't changed my outlook and stopped the self loathing. I don't expect you to understand. Afterall, you haven't had this struggle. I only ask you to respect the massive effort I put forward, and respect my personal conclusion that I was born this way. 

Now, let's move on to the grievances we gays have been complaining about for decades.
Here is a list of higher taxes gay and lesbian couples have to pay:
Health Insurance (if provided by same sex partner's employer)
Gift Tax
Inheritance Exemption
Dependent Credit (if one partner is dependent on the other)
Married vs. Single Tax Differences
Many others, depending on the state.

In the event of hospitalization, a host of paperwork must be filled out for "visitation rights" which married couples have automatically. Even if your paperwork is in order, the hospital can still deny visitation.

In the event of death and inheritance by the surviving same-sex partner, there is no exemption on the inheritance tax. Married couples have a very large exemption which eliminates the vast majority of inheritance taxes. We have half of our estate taken away by the government when one of us dies.

In the event of death the deceased's family can (and often does) sue the surviving partner for their relative's assets. Even if they have all the legal maneuvering completed to form trusts and wills, the deceased family can hire a good lawyer and take everything the couple spent their lives building. Even if the family does not prevail, it is a massive expense to defend your property against homophobic family members who didn't care enough to come around when your partner was alive!

My partner is a brown person. As such, he is always stopped by TSA and searched. Invariably, I stop and wait for the unconstitutional search to finish. The TSA agent (seeing my size and annoyance) orders me to "move along", and they hassle and threaten us with detention when I refuse. I'm not about to leave my beloved at the hands of the TSA thugs. I will always observe their mistreatment of him, even if I am powerless to stop it. We can't even fill out the same customs form when we enter the country.

These are just a few examples of how same-sex couples are mistreated and our dignity violated. These examples show why we need legal protections far beyond contracts, wills, and trusts. We need legal equality with married straight couples. If that equality can be brought about by having a "separate but equal" institution, I am fine with that. The problem is, there are organizations who are so opposed to our very existence that they work tirelessly to hollow out the equality in civil unions and domestic partner registries. An "unintended consequence" of many of these "marriage amendments" is to eliminate civil unions and domestic partner registries that have nothing to do with marriage. That's why we push for full marriage.

We aren't trying to take away from the institution of marriage. We are seeking legal protections and equality. We seek human dignity. Nothing less will be acceptable, nothing more is expected.